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The Arctic is experiencing warming and ecological shifts due to climate change and the compounded effects of polar amplification. Arctic Alaskan coastal marsh environments, such as the Cape Espenberg barrier beach system, offers an opportunity to determine the carbon cycle response to changing climate in sediment records that have been preserved through time as a shoreline-parallel, linear geometry prograding geomorphic features. This study determines the carbon and mineral accumulation trends in marsh environments at Cape Espenberg for both paleo (pre 1850 after death [AD]) and modern (post 1850 AD) timeframes. A comprehensive physical and chemical dataset, including radioisotope (Caesium-137 [137Cs], Lead-210 [210Pb], Carbon-14 [14C]), stable isotope (delta-13 Carbon [δ13C]), element concentration (%Carbon [C], %Nitrogen [N], C:N), and dry bulk density, has been built for several sediment cores. Results indicate carbon and mineral accumulations have increased from paleo to modern times, potentially due to better growing and/or preservation conditions for organic matter under a modern climate. Paleoclimate trends in the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), and warm periods interspersed within the Little Ice Age (LIA), also correlate to greater contributions of wetland organic matter as evidenced by lighter δ13C values. Cold climate periods within the Little Ice Age correlate with increased aquatic organic matter sourcing and heavier δ13C values with some spikes of wetland sources interspersed throughout the LIA. Modern warming may potentially continue to expand carbon stores in Arctic coastal wetlands as future temperatures are predicted to rise with global climate change, as observed in the swale environments at Cape Espenberg, where increasingly favorable growing and soil preservation conditions (i.e. wet/anoxic soils and lower salinity to limit organic material decay, higher temperatures to promote growth) may result in future Arctic coastal carbon reservoirs.
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This content will become publicly available on October 20, 2026
Assessing Coastal Wetland Carbon and Mineral Accumulation Response to Changing Climate, Cape Espenberg, Alaska
The Arctic is experiencing warming and ecological shifts due to climate change and the compounding effects of polar amplification. Arctic Alaskan coastal marsh environments, such as the Cape Espenberg barrier beach system, offer an opportunity to determine the carbon cycle response to changing climate by examining sediment records that have been preserved through time as shoreline-parallel, linear geometry prograding geomorphic features. This study determines the carbon and mineral accumulation trends in marsh environments at Cape Espenberg for both paleo (~776 CE to 1850 CE) and modern (post-1850 CE) time frames. A comprehensive physical and chemical dataset, including radioisotope (137Cs, 210Pb, 14C), stable isotope (δ13C), element concentration (%C, %N, C:N), and dry bulk density, has been built for several sediment cores. Results indicate that carbon and mineral accumulation rates have increased from paleo to modern times, potentially because of better growing and preservation conditions for organic matter in a modern climate. Paleoclimate trends in the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and warm periods interspersed within the Little Ice Age (LIA) also correlate with greater contributions of wetland organic matter, as evidenced by lighter δ13C values. Cold climate periods within the LIA correlate with increased aquatic organic matter sourcing and heavier δ13C values, with some spikes of wetland sources interspersed throughout the LIA. Future temperatures are predicted to rise with global climate change, which may continue to expand carbon stores in Arctic coastal wetland sediments. This has been observed in the swale environments at Cape Espenberg, where increasingly favourable growing and soil-preservation conditions (i.e. wet/anoxic soils and lower salinity to limit organic material decay, higher temperatures to promote growth) are increasing the carbon storage within Arctic coastal carbon reservoirs.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1927553
- PAR ID:
- 10645000
- Publisher / Repository:
- Arctic
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ARCTIC
- Volume:
- 78
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0004-0843
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The Arctic is experiencing warming and ecological shifts due to climate change and the compounded effects of polar amplification. Arctic Alaskan coastal marsh environments, such as the Cape Espenberg barrier beach system, offers an opportunity to determine the carbon cycle response to changing climate in sediment records that have been preserved through time as a shoreline-parallel, linear geometry prograding geomorphic features. This study determines the carbon and mineral accumulation trends in marsh environments at Cape Espenberg for both paleo (pre 1850 after death [AD]) and modern (post 1850 AD) timeframes. A comprehensive physical and chemical dataset, including radioisotope (Caesium-137 [137Cs], Lead-210 [210Pb], Carbon-14 [14C]), stable isotope (delta-13 Carbon [δ13C]), element concentration (%Carbon [C], %Nitrogen [N], C:N), and dry bulk density, has been built for several sediment cores. Results indicate carbon and mineral accumulations have increased from paleo to modern times, potentially due to better growing and/or preservation conditions for organic matter under a modern climate. Paleoclimate trends in the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), and warm periods interspersed within the Little Ice Age (LIA), also correlate to greater contributions of wetland organic matter as evidenced by lighter δ13C values. Cold climate periods within the Little Ice Age correlate with increased aquatic organic matter sourcing and heavier δ13C values with some spikes of wetland sources interspersed throughout the LIA. Modern warming may potentially continue to expand carbon stores in Arctic coastal wetlands as future temperatures are predicted to rise with global climate change, as observed in the swale environments at Cape Espenberg, where increasingly favorable growing and soil preservation conditions (i.e. wet/anoxic soils and lower salinity to limit organic material decay, higher temperatures to promote growth) may result in future Arctic coastal carbon reservoirs.more » « less
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